Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Cut your pumpkin in half and toss the stem section and stringy pulp. Save the seeds to dry and roast if that's your thing.

If your pumpkin is small to medium, place the two halves face down in a shallow baking dish, add some water to keep it all moist and cover with foil.  If your pumpkin is larger, cut it in half and then cut it into smaller pieces to place on your baking sheet.

Bake at 375 about 1½ hours for a medium-sized pumpkin, or until tender.  Mine was almost translucent and some parts were almost caramelized when I turned them over so they could cool.  Smaller pieces cook better and get a deeper color.

Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it.  Put it in freezer bags and store flat, in the freezer.

Holly's Note:
I have used jelly roll pans, but my glass baking dishes work better.  They're deeper and the water doesn't evaporate as quickly. Covering them with foil is optional.

Once the pumpkins are cool enough to handle, I scrape out the puree and put it in my mixer.  It doesn't always get smooth enough, so then I put it in my blender, a little at a time to puree it.  (I really need to get a food processor.)

I strain it all to get more water out.  I put ~2 cups of puree in each freezer bag and just lay them flat in the freezer.

This is a bit labor intensive and messy, but it is worth it.  I love knowing that I use our bounty, rather than just throwing it all away after Halloween.

I've seen a lot online about using sugar or pie pumpkins, rather than "jack-o-lantern" pumpkins.  I always just have regular pumpkins from my aunt's garden, so I have no idea what kind they actually are.  We never actually get around to carving them. However, they are just fine for pumpkin bread. I don't like pumpkin pie, but I really like pumpkin bread.